Oh Samsung, why must this be the end of the update love for the Galaxy S line? That’s right, after a 3 week roller coaster a Samsung spokesperson has stated that the Galaxy S line will not receive any updates beyond Gingerbread. According to The Next Web, a Samsung spokesperson has said that the company will not update the original Galaxy S or 7″ Tab due to hardware specifications, in that they are fully optimized for the Gingerbread update. This we already knew, or at least we thought we did.

Except that isn’t the whole story according a ComputerWorld report that followed The Next Web article indicating that Samsung really hasn’t said anything. According to ComputerWorld, Samsung’s media relations team:

1) Samsung won’t be upgrading the Galaxy S or the original 7″ Galaxy Tab to Ice Cream Sandwich

2) Samsung isn’t explicitly saying that it won’t bring some Ice Cream Sandwich like features to the Galaxy S, 7″ Tab line

3) Samsung isn’t explicitly saying it will do that either. As it stands, Samsung isn’t saying much of anything at all about this issue. Everything is just rumor and speculation at this point.

With CES next week I expect that this will require some face time with the Samsung PR folk so we’ll wait to see what they are willing to go on the record saying. Until then, it’s just hopes and dreams at this point.

About David Beren

David is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of TmoNews.com. He considers himself a Jedi Knight, capable of leaping tall buildings in a single bound and a connoisseur of fine cell phones. He has been involved in the wireless industry since 2003 and has been known to swap out phones far too many times in any given year. Should you wish to contact him, you can do so: david@tmonews.com.

Well, the Galaxy S II is covered under the Android Update Alliance. Samsung has already finished the alpha stage for the unlocked international Galaxy S II (GT-i9100). It is quite likely that January will be devoted to internal beta testing and refinement, with February being devoted to final testing and shipping it out to carriers to test and approve. We’ll see carrier branded updates in April, while the unlocked international Galaxy S II (GT-i9100) will receive it in March.

Samsung will work to undo the reputation damage it suffered with the Galaxy S line in the U.S. by quickly preparing the updates of the variants and shipping them out to the carriers. Again, I’d expect T-Mobile to go first, with Sprint next, and AT&T last.

Why T-Mobile first? It doesn’t even use the same SoAC as the other Galaxy S 2 models because T-Mobile wants it to have specs for HSPA+ theoretical speeds that only Qualcomm delivers, at the expense of phone GPU performance. (Not that you’ll ever notice a difference between a 22Mb phone and a 42Mb phone.)

Because the Qualcomm chip being used is used in a lot of variants, and Qualcomm is working with the makers to make Android 4.0 easy to upgrade to for Snapdragon S3 devices. And Samsung used a lot of Snapdragon S3 chips in 2011 for their flagship lines. Only a few Galaxy phones used Exynos. Nearly all used Snapdragon S3, with a few using OMAP.

Anonymous

They can hardly try to repair their reputation by more promises. At this point, nobody can trust them until maybe GS3.

The Nexus does not have identical specs to the Galaxy S line. Many variants of the Galaxy S had small appropriations for firmware storage. For example, all CDMA variants only had around 300-400MB of internal storage for OS and apps. Not nearly enough room. Asian variants were even worse in this regard. American GSM variants sort of lucked out, as we got the full internal storage amount, but we got 512MB of flashable storage and another 1GB for apps. But the Nexus S had a full 2GB available, 1GB for flashable storage, and 1GB for apps. The Nexus S can even be repartitioned to be one giant volume instead (like the Galaxy Nexus), which the Galaxy S variants cannot.

It certainly does not need 2GB, ICS can be hacked to run on the T-Mobile HTC HD2 in a 180MB partition. They’d make it run on more if they had to, as the T-Mobile varient has 1GB storage, and ROMs have been made using more than 440MB when needed (Sense 3.5 ROMs). However, since it actually uses less storage than CM7 on that hardware, I don’t think your excuse holds water. You wouldn’t be a Samsung employee, would you? I’d think they’d have better things to do than bring sock puppets onto forums, like porting ICS to older devices… ;-)

Uhh, no. I’m not a Samsung employee. But you are forgetting that Android 4.0 stock (when not minimally built), is roughly 250MB in size, at least! That is mighty painful for a 300MB flashable partition. Then let’s not forget that the TouchWiz UX has to be added on top. That’s another 100MB. Oh, and let’s not forget that T-Mobile needs a custom kernel, RIL, and intercepting interface installed for its UMA solution, which is another 25MB. Oh look, it is 375MB! That leaves 128MB for flashable zone of partition. If you are assuming that there’s 1GB for flashable ROM (which I doubt), then you have 649MB left. But then where’s the apps going to be stored? The partition for user apps wouldn’t exist if it’s all for the flashable zone. As for CDMA variants, it would leave only 50MB for app storage. That’s nowhere near enough room for the phones to comfortably function. And then, let’s not forget that the T-Mobile Galaxy S 4G only has 2GB of total storage. It’s also going to be in a tight spot!

You’re thinking of the Vibrant, the GS4g has less than 2GB total storage, more like 512MB or so I think, because it doesn’t have a built in media drive (it relies on microsd cards. Kudos to Samsung for selling us the same hardware a few months later with worse specs.) Still, there’s something wrong with your figures, as ASOP 4.0 on the HD2 and also for HTC Android devices is considerably less than 250MB. Also, I don’t have much sympathy for Samsung’s plight with Touchwiz, isn’t the whole point of ICS to improve the stock experience so OEMs don’t need to pile on skins like Touchwiz’s KIRF-like interface?

I don’t actually own a Galaxy S 4G like I owned a Vibrant, so I was going off of publicly disclosed specs. And the HTC ROMs that leaked? Were any of them carrier-branded firmware? Or were they the beta unbranded firmware that minimally applied the skin to the UI? The alpha builds of the official Samsung Android 4.0 ROMs with TouchWiz for the Galaxy S II GT-i9100 are ~400MB, without carrier additions, by the way.

I think you know the answer to that question, I said they’re ASOP-based. The fact that Samsung feels a need to put Touchwiz on it doesn’t generate much sympathy on this end, like I said. Let’s say for the sake of argument, that Touchwiz is so bloated that it keeps people from being able to use ICS on their phones. HTC did offer on some carriers in Europe Gingerbread on very old devices (I think the Desire) without HTC Sense. Why can’t Samsung do the same? Do they really think people will shop for Samsung devices again because they like the latest Touchwiz?

Well, remember that HTC said that they will not ship a non-Sense device if they can help it. They said that at MWC. I can guess that’s partly why LG made the G2x for 2011.

And as for shopping for TouchWiz… I bought a Samsung phone because of TouchWiz. I wanted it for the broad hardware accelerated codec support and the support for the MKV video container format (which is part of the TouchWiz UX, and no one else has made this available yet). I bought it because I liked the TouchWiz experience as well. I like AOSP too, but I like TouchWiz more.

And yes, I’m an “advanced” user. Just because I’m an advanced user doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy stuff like TouchWiz which actually suit my needs more than AOSP or Sense or MotoBLUR can.

Maybe. Most of TouchWiz’s “bloat” comes from lots of raster/vector graphics pairs for nearly all elements of the UI. Take all that out, and TouchWiz becomes a lot smaller. If it were feasible to do vector only, then TouchWiz would shrink considerably. But then it would become laggier than MotoBLUR, which relies heavily on vector graphics.

Far be it from me to suggest Motoblur, I wouldn’t want to wish Motoblur on my worst enemy.

Mark Hennessey

Samsung has said it’s TouchWiz that’s the limiting factor, no?

I’ve run a beta of ICS on my phone a few times. Not too bad, but flaky enough that I had to go back to a 2.2 ROM.

Anonymous

I’m learning from you dude lol

Anonymous

Fuckn bullshit!

Tbyrne

Quit crying. There’s a new operating system that comes out every few years for computers. Are you pissed that you don’t get the new version on your old computer? Didn’t think so.

Anonymous

Just trollin through the comments with that one arent ya…

Tbyrne

No. Just amazed at all these crybabies who think they should get the ICS on tech that’s almost 2 years old.

Frigadroid

I Don’t really think anyone thought they would get ice cream on their vibrant with samsung and tmobile’s terrible record. I said the other day I doubt what they said about ICS, and I doubt we will ever get gingerbread too.
Hey David shouldn’t we be bitching about gingerbread first?

Anonymous

Seriously, stop masturbating. It’s affecting your brain…

TMOREP

trololololololol

MK Terra

Except with a computer, I can actually install the new OS myself, thanks to driver updates. This is sadly not the case with smartphones.

Bkidko

“Until then, it’s just hopes and dreams at this point.”
You’re like that girl that just refuses to be broken up with. How much more clearly can this be said? The Vibrant never even got a Froyo ota and now we are talking avout ICS. We never expected ICS and if Samsing didn’t bring it up, it would not even be a story. I feel insulted by this rubbing of salt into open wounds. Wtf is going on here?!

Yeah Randall. And don’t buy anymore computers either. Damn Apple and Microsoft won’t give us a new operating system for free.

Guest911

You really aint bright if you cant see the difference tb.

Tbyrne

What are you babbling about? The galaxy s is almost 2 years old. If you purchased technology that’s almost 2 years old and are crying because you’re not getting a new interface for free then you’re crazy! I’ve got the galaxy s2 and WILL be getting the ICS so I could care less if randalls pissed off.

Anonymous

So in other words in 2yrs when your SG2,doesnot updates any longer u won’t be upset with Samsung? Maybe even in 1yr. Because in 2012, SG3 is due out. Saying GS is 2yrs old,u would be crazy to buy it? Tmo still sells GS,so who fault is that if people buy the SG?

Tbyrne

No. It will still get any available updates, just not a whole new interface. That’s what the ICS is. As far as someone who’s going to be purchasing a phone that’s nearly 2 years old. They know they’re buying a phone for under a hundred dollars that originally sold close to 5 hundred so they’re not that concerned.

Anonymous

Don’t hold your breath waiting for that update TByrne. Samsung’s update model if for you to buy a new phone. And really, to expect them to update it for free, my what a whiner, Bill Gates isn’t going to give you windows 8 for free. And for the record, I don’t care if you get pissed off if you don’t get ICS either :)

Tbyrne

Hi there Ulysses. I’m sorry to disappoint you but there will be an ICS update for the galaxy S2, so don’t worry about me holding my breath. I’m rather surprised you didn’t know that. I don’t get buyers remorse, do you? I know exactly what I’m getting when I purchase something. I don’t need to whine honey. There’s enough crybabies in here already. Ha Ha Ha!

Anonymous

Honestly, I hope you do get that update. But again, Shamesung’s track record to date is not too good. As for buyers remorse, lol, had more than a few. I would like to think I am a much more savvy android purchaser than when they first came out, I mean really, I don’t buy samsung any more so at least that is a step in the right direction.

Although to be fair, samsung did me a favor, it was because of that behold II and Vibrant that I learned how to root and rom phones, something I have gotten extremely proficient at.

Tbyrne

I buy the phone that has ALL the bells and whistles. The Samsung Galaxy S2 Has biggest screen, super amoled by the way, dual core goodness, 8 megapixel camera, 1080p video and on and on. I haven’t had ANY problems with my S2. Some people just complain about everything under the sun. I have had nothing but positive experiences with Samsung products. I’ve got a 60″ LED that I’ve had over a year now and still looks awesome. Been using a Samsung microwave going on 12 years now. No problems. I guess I’m one of the lucky ones who hasn’t had issues with Samsung. This phone to me IS the best smartphone in T-Mobiles lineup. If the iPhone comes out in the future on T-Mobile, I’ll seriously consider purchasing it. It better have a bigger screen though. 3.7″ ain’t gonna cut it!

Dpro

Yes that is true, but they will give you IOS updates for free. That is one of big things Apple has over Samsung with the Iphone. Even 3GS’s can and do run IOS 5.01. Those phones are 3 years old.
Seriously Samsung has proven they do not support their product in efforts to sell you new product. It’s poor customer service. They know full well they could support if not for their own skin, though they really don’t care.
Samsung has proven to care less about patents, customers etc…..

I would say people vote with their wallets and stop being seduced by Samsungs little games with their phones. I.E. Great fantastic , large screens but not much future support.

You realize that this update disaster is localized to only the United States, right? Every other region of the world got their updates on time or early. Samsung delivers on its promises when it can. Samsung and T-Mobile couldn’t deliver 2.2 before the end of 2010 because of the massive number of Korean and American holidays that kept people out of work at critical times.

No one ever promised 2.3 for the Galaxy S line, but Samsung’s still delivering anyway. Most of the world got it in June or July 2011, but U.S. carriers started getting the raw software package from Samsung in October. Badger T-Mobile about Gingerbread for your phone, not Samsung. Honestly, I expect Gingerbread to made available on the third week of January, just like it was last year.

And Ice Cream Sandwich requires too much re-engineering to put on to the Galaxy S. Compounded with the fact that most will be upgrading sometime in the March through August (since the Vibrant launched in July 2010), there’s really no point.

My phone is worse…the 2GX. But I rooted it so that it actually works like it’s supposed to.

My wife has the Vibrant. The display is gorgeous, but the phone works like shit. GPS is still worthless. Samsung’s crappy updates haven’t fixed anything. And what’s with requiring special software to install upgrades? JEEZ…get with the program already!

Anyway, the producers of Android products need to stop with the crappy skins and interface tweaks…get rid of the crapware…and just give people devices with basic Android functionality.

randyohsofly

Seriously stop complaining people.what phone does last two years and people will always complain about something.you can’t buy a phone from last year and expect it to be on par with the next.js

cwheeler

I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect a phone to receive support and updates for the 2 years of the contract. While Samsung has the right not to update their devices, other companies (apple being the big one) are. These update problems are going to drive people away from android and samsung especially. I know I won’t be buying another samsung phone.

Mark Hennessey

I keep a short list of phones I’d get if I lost/broke/whatevered my current phone – a Vibrant. Galaxy S2 just got crossed off that list.

WTF – was that “mini update” line just a way of keeping the peasants at bay for a week?

Mark Hennessey

My daughter is using an iPhone 3GS running iOS 5.0.1. It works well enough. I know that’s “Apples to oranges” in away because iOS has a limited number of devices they have to support, but I don’t think it’s unreasonable to buy a ‘super phone’ and expect that it can accept updates for a couple of years.

Tbyrne

It’s not a “update” mark. It’s the new interface for Android!

Dethooper04

So why would they release the stratosphere… They need to give a free upgrade then… That phone just came out and they’re not updating it .. feel bad for Samsung users, that’s why I switched to HTC…

Android fragmentation is a real problem, I had a Motorola Cliq XT that never got updated past 1.5. I dreaded the day that I might have to wipe it, because the official Facebook app no longer worked on that version of Android which meant if I wiped it I wouldn’t be able to reinstall it again. Motorolla though at least offered an inferior Facebook widget for Motoblur to comfort me, we couldn’t live without Motoblur, right?

Mark

I’m still on my original recipe Cliq (2.1), and I actually like Motoblur. I’m getting into upgrade time, probably looking for an ICS phone, and I’ll miss the Messages and Happenings widgets and the “one click to update all your streams” status function.. It seems like Moto and Tmo have pretty much divorced since the Cliq 2 shipped, so it’ll be bye-bye Blur.

Someone actually likes Motoblur, on my Cliq XT (1.5) it ran so slow that sometimes it wouldn’t be able to register swipes on the touchscreen well enough to answer a call. Putting Cyanogenmod, once there finally were ROMs available for it, was like night and day. Still slow, but at least it was a usable phone then. I didn’t like either the widgets or the performance hit Motoblur gave me. Incidentally, Motorola has stopped using the Motoblur brand for their OEM Android customizations, which shows that even they don’t think it’s a good thing. :-)

#Winning

Chris has a legitimate qualm with Samsung. Comparing something like Android which has at least one update a year to Windows, which takes years to update and is not delivered for free to the consumer, is stupid.

Tbyrne

Maybe but Chris wasn’t promised he’d be getting the new Android interface on his galaxy a when he purchased it. Right? If you want the latest and greatest thing at all times and expect it for free, somethings horribly wrong with you.

If Bill Gates sold me a PC on a 2 year contract and then Windows 7 came out with a year to go, then yeah, I’d expect to get the upgrade!

Tbyrne

Galaxy s came out 1st quarter 2010. Nice try.

jarjon76

Flawed argument on your part.

Anonymous

My such a haughty tone. As a former Behold II owner who was promised an upgrade from android 1.5 to 2.x (I still have a copy of the promotional video) and then samsung reneged on their promise —- then promised android 1.6 and then the update was pulled because touchwiz sucked so bad it couldn’t even run with 1.6 — and the phone was abandoned on android 1.5……. I hardly call that being a spoiled brat, I call that a company that either lied to their customers or was so incompetent with their implementation of touchwiz that they could not fix the problem.

As for windows 7 being given free…… Hardly and apples and oranges comparison.

You buy xp with 2 expectations. First, that is WILL ACTUALLY WORK – that is be stable and allow you to use your computer as advertised. Both the Behold II and Vibrant that I had were buggy to the point of madness and required constant battery pulls for their constant touchwiz memory leaks and failures. The second expectation is that your XP Computer will receive updates that enhance the use of the device and make it more stable. Windows delivered on that in spades. Samsuck, well not so much on either of those two devices.

People do not buy windows with the expectation that they will receive free updates when new systems come out. The expectations in android have developed as the market came out and google’s coming out with a new version of android every other month has not made the situation any better. Me thinks they should slow down a bit and actually fix what is wrong so the manufacturers can catch up. That would probably fix a lot of problems. That and removing touchwiz :)

Silk7412

This is why i will wait for the next Nexus. I will not buy the Galaxy Nexus for i think there will be problems for them too.(hardware and software wise).
Google please come back to HTC !!!

Kevinmarchibald

So far I think all the Nexus phones have been supported the longest, about two years. So what makes you think it will be different for the Galaxy Nexus? Are you just referring to the Verizon phone, or the HSPA+ phones, too?

Silk7412

I’m mainly talking about samsung as a product.from behold to now galaxy s. They have proved time and time again that they dont back there stuff. I really hope that that ther “pure” google phone is pure!!

Matlcok

youre an idiot!! Its a Google Nexus phone, which means that all the updates come directly from GOOGLE, and not SAMSUNG!!! Samsung is just the hardware manufacturer, the software portion itself is all Google! I own a GNexus and it is one of the most beautiful phones ive ever had. The HSPA+ GNexus, def where its at, screw the VZW version.

Tmoguy1

This is one reason I hate Android. Really, too many different versions, updates etc. I buy a game on on one, and when I upgrade or do a software update, suddnely the game doesn’t work and I have to wait for devs to update… If they do. Then updates may or may not come to one device or another.

Don’t get me wrong I own a Samsung Galaxy s2, but I don’y buy android thinking I’ll get updates, I just buy the device knowing I’ll get another one in a year or two anyway.

JBLmobileG1

This is the only fall for Android because of all the different versions. Like someone pointed out… unless the developer fixed the app to run on the latest version of Android.. you maybe out of luck. I think they should also let you block updates because sometimes updates are to help fix an app to run on the latest o/s but who’s to say the update won’t affect the older version of the o/s later on? Also while Samsung seems to make the best looking screens on phones the hardware always feels cheap and their updates seem too far and few. While this may be the carriers fault as well… I still think they have an option at releasing updates without the carrier having to ask for it. While some of the Samsung phones seem tempting I think I will stick with HTC who’s phones seem to be built better and with more updates.

Mmmaxheadroom

It’s not the carriers falt it’d friggin touchwizs fault. Worst skin of them all

Anonymous

Wait… when did I ever receive Gingerbread? oh that’s right by original they mean the original 4G model not the vibrant…

Tmo_employee

and this is why i always push people into htc phones

Anonymous

So your saying that the htc mytouch 4G, wildefire, htc mytouch slide 4G, WILL get ICS cause I’m not buying that? We know the sensation and amaze are being updated to ICS but so is the galaxy s2 so..

Mmmaxheadroom

So is the galaxy s2 !! Wtf! It Damn.well better its 3 months old.! Dollar to donuts the gs2 gets this update in june!

TMOREP

the wildfire is a god-awful phone ONLY because of the memory (rom). install 2-5 apps and youre done.

Anonymous

Don’t forget the “stock” G2.

Nick

The vanilla G2 is such a joke. I’ve got one and I call it the forgotten phone. There’s no good reason it shouldn’t be on a legit, non-rooted 2.3.7 version.

Anonymous

did anyone even actually think we were going to get icecream sandwich on our vibrants? we never even got gingerbread. I knew this answer a long time ago. if you want timely updates you have to go with an HTC phone or a nexus phone.

Guest

solve of problems is to ROOT the phone and flash CM7.1 and wait for CM9 to be released. flash with CM9 and your ICS problem is solved. they are always working on getting updates to a lot of phones with much improvement to the operating system. I have rooted my phone to installed CM its the best thing, won’t be going back to stock OS

Anonymous

Except that doesn’t work with the galaxy s vibrant.

Spindr

Indeed it does. I’m running CM7 on my Vibrant and LOVE it! I’m even thinking about buying the front facing camera for the phone since it’s under $50. I know a lot of people have had problems with their Samsung and I am fortunate that I’ve had nothing but good experience.

Can’t wait for the Tizen SDK and hopefully some Tizen devices at CES!!!

Wilma Flintstone

Heck scratch even that, I’d just be glad to See Tizen OS at CES let alone some Devices running it. Q1 2012 is here and that SDK is as good as mine :D

Mmmaxheadroom

Ohh behold 2 how we wait for the 2.1 update … Oh wait that’s the 1.6 update, oh wait that’s the… It won’t go past 1.5. Were any of you fools listening? Nope just like little kids, oooh the screen is so shiny and deep colors and no updates. Sometimes you might just listen to the community, they will give you a heads up to a companies plans to sell you the next big shiny thingamabob, you go in with blinders on your head serves you right. Never again and my sensation rocks.

Anonymous

The Galaxy S is going on two years old now(which is super long in the phone world) and got two major updates. How in the world does this compare to the Behold II? Oh that’s right it doesn’t. People just love to whine about that phone still for some reason.

Do you think the MyTouch 4G, which came out after the GS, will get updated? How bout the G2?

Bkidko

For $1,000,000 name the 2 major updates that the Vibrant received.

Anonymous

That’s a dumb question so I’ll give you a dumb answer. My Vibrant got updated to 2.2 via KIES and then updated to 2.3 via a ROM.

And for the record I was referring to the Galaxy S. Not the abandoned T-Mobile variant.

Frigadroid

Yeah its funny how the sammy fan boys keep conveniently forgetting that the Vibrant is a galaxy s and we technically had only 1 official failure of an “optional” (that alone should have been a warning that they knew the update was flawed) froyo via kies mini if you even had a phone that would update. I would guess most of the vibrants are still on 2.1.

Anonymous

Yes we really love to whine about that phone. Incompetence or Betrayal, take your pick, it is a bitter pill to swallow. When you spent a lot on a device, and are PROMISED and update only to find the company either lied or is imcompetent, it is difficult to let go of.

But honestly, my issue is not that I expect them to update me forever for free, just that the device work as promised and not crash, FC, lag and stutter like the king’s speech.

As for the G2 and MT4G, both of those worked as advertised :)

Anonymous

I can’t argue with you really :-) especially with the unresolved GPS issue(for my Vibrant at least).

Anonymous

Also for some reason only know to Tm and Samsung,they still sell the Behold 2 as upgrade! No one can say why!

I think its time Google steps in and tells manufactures and carriers if they choose to overlay their UI on top of Android, they must offer the EXACT SAME PHONE stock on the EXACT SAME CARRIERS. There will be two of the same phone, one with TouchWiz, one with Stock. One with Sense UI, one with Stock.
Then they also need to step in and say what the MINIMUM hardware requirements are, and the reason for that is because of below….1. “ALL entry level phones must be compatible with Gingerbread 2.3.x minimum, disclosure that these phones may not be updated to future revisions of Android OS” 1-year or less of updates.2. “ALL Mid-Level phones must be compatible with AT LEAST 2 revisions of Android (ie 4.0, 4.1/4.2) and disclosure that these phones WILL be updated at least TWO revisions of Android but may not be updated past that” 2-years of updates.3. “ALL High-Level phones must be compatible with AT LEAST 3 (or more) revisions of Android (ie 4.0, 4.1/4.2, 4.3, etc) and disclosure that these phones WILL be updated at least THREE revisions of Android but may not be updated past that.” 3-years of updates.

Android will remain OPEN and FREE to use if these requirements are met. If not, the manufactures are welcome to purchase a licence to use Android for less than these Google Terms of Service Agreements.

Gsm1900

From a business standpoint, this is a terrible idea. It takes a lot of money to run a seperate supply chain, inventory, shelf space, troubleshooting, etc. All just so some spoiled customers who think they “deserve” an update are happy?

When you buy a TV, you get the firmware that is on the TV. If you go to the store a year later, there will be a new version of your TV, with some newer features. Do you deserve to have those new features too?

Forget it society is horrible and evil and commerce is for the agenda fearing

Je’Cir’e

Going_home

You guys that keep buying Samsung and LG phones, pay attention to this.
They are the worst at customer service after the sale.

:-D

jarjon76

Those who keep buying Samsung and LG phones have no room to complain. You get what you pay for.

Tbyrne

Yeah, and in Samsungs case, the best Android phone on the market.

Anonymous

With no disrespect intended, thank you for the belly laugh, I have not laughed that hard in days. Samsung may be many things, and maybe their hardware might arguably be “the best”, but in my experience, touchwiz is by far the buggiest, lagging, FC’ing, implementation I have ever seen. Not the best, I would put it behind blur, and that is saying something.

Are you talking about TouchWiz before the Galaxy S II? If so, I’d agree with you. If you are talking about TouchWiz on the Galaxy S II and beyond, I’d heartily disagree. I like the new experience a lot more than the previous ones. And the best features of TouchWiz (the codec support, expanded hardware acceleration, etc.) are still included!

Guest

My experiences with Touchwiz are with the Behold II – Epic Failure and rendered the phone almost unusable and unable to be updated it was so locked down.

With the Vibrant, GPS never worked and if I made it a day without twlauncher,android.process.com force closing or requiring a battery pull it was by the grace of god.

With the Sidekick 4G, the phone required 2 battery pulls a day, leaked memory like a sieve and would lock the screen as unresponsive at the most inopportune moments – usually when trying to answer a call or as you were about to send a txt that you had just typed. It is beyond pathetic that Samsung has not made that device stable 8 months out from launch and you know they will end of life it soon and abandon it just like the behold II.

So I have used TouchWiz on several devices. I am happy that your experience with it is satisfactory. For me, it is worse than Alpha roms I have run. I have been running CM& nightlies since the beginning to 253 and 95% of those are more stable and functional than my experience with TouchWiz. But that is just me, you mileage may definitely vary.

Anonymous

Okay first of all I just bought the GS4g from my friend for 150 because she moved to AT&T because she was SOOO sure they’d win the merger and I had that useless brick call the Cliq XT (and wanted to wait to see what T-mo was releasing this year) that someone mentioned in an above post and 2 days after I got the the phone from my friend my XT went to hell and completely died.. so now it is really useless. A few days after I got the phone from my friend that USB said it was charging when I plugged it into the computer or charger but it wouldn’t let my computer load the drivers.. it wasn’t recognizing the freaking phone no matter what I did… call T-mo CS and did there troubleshooting…. nothing worked so they transferred me to Samsung and did all they said and nothing helped after I hung up I called back T-mo and they transferred me to technical support and I did what the guy said he confirmed it was the USB port and said I’d have to pay the deductible but I was like that’s alot of money for a USB port. He put me on hold and said I had a 5 dollar credit to my next bill and that he’d send me a new replacement phone… All works now and I was able to update to Gingerbread

But all in all I noticed Motorola CS is USELESS but Samsung isn’t that bad!!! They just have screwy computer drivers on their phones!!!! I have the latest Gingerbread on my Vibrant 4g and it all works…. I am just happy I am not stuck on 1.5 anymore and can actually download apps!!!! But didn’t the Vibrant 4g just come out Q1 of last year?

But if you all read the article above T-mo news says, as of right now this is all speculation right now.. not confirmed.. we’ll see but I have read tons of things says that GS may get some ICS feature updates etc

So stop bitching… and wait to see what happens!!!

<3

James

i dont know why everyone is complaining about their phone not getting the latest update… stop waiting for someone else to give you something and go get it on your own… root your phone and when a rom comes out with ICS get it.

SAMSUNG, HTC, LG, APPLE and MOTOROLA DON’T CARE ABOUT US

you sign a two you contract and expect your phone to work… TALK, TEXT AND SURF THE WEB… after two years i bet your phone still does all that… and if it doesn’t work after two years i hope you had insurance for that “super phone”

juicebox

You’re right. a wireless customer only agrees to paying for wireless service (talk + text+ data + added features) at will. Updates are not included in this.

However, things change when you select a smart gadget (ex: Android operated device, iOS device, i.e.) and begin to use it. You must accept the terms of service for the software running on your device. That’s when things change. Why? Because you and the manufacturer make a legal agreement. And as part of that agreement there are expectations from both sides. The consumer expects for the device to be offered support. That includes updates. More often than not, the wireless carries are included in this agreement because the wireless carriers willing opt to customize Android versions of their phones and force customers to use those instead (contract or no-contract). There only a few notable exceptions like the Nexus One, i.e.

So whether you wait for the manufacturer or “go get it on your own,” you’re still dependent on someone providing the necessary rom to upgrade.

The only difference between some of the manufacturers you listed is that very few of those actually understand that they are expected to provide support, including upgrades. Eventually a phone will run its course. Until then, the customer should expect support.

To me, Samsung is a company with a lot of potential that is degrading customer experience on their phones (in terms of support).

Dennis Holland

stop crying like babies of course they won’t update older phone when there trying to push and sell newer phones stop complaining and upgrade your phone to a GS2 or Nexus

Nick

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Apple gets you to buy a new iPhone by making you love your current iPhone. Android manufacturers get you to buy a new android phone by making you hate your current phone.

Syn

The updates on the phone depend on the hardware specifications. eg. windows vista cannot run below 2GB RAM. Like wise when an Andriod platform gets upgraded there is certain hardware requirements. You can still force the device to install it but it will affect its performance.
Talking about apple, I remember upgrading iphone 3G to iOS4. The phone could hardly operate. It was very slow and many people ended up downgrading to iOS 3.
Andriod is avoiding this frustration by not providing the update.
I think the decision made has many more technical reasons behind it.

Nick

I don’t disagree with anything you said. However, if miui or xda or CM can get a phone running a certain version of the OS, it has nothing to do with hardware specs. I don’t own the Galaxy S, but it apparently can handle ICS, just not Samsung’s version of it. Android isn’t avoiding the frustration, the manufacturer is causing it.

Bkidko

Nick, Google needs to to see your post. Your post summarizes exactly how I feel about all this.

juicebox

Yeah, I agree with Syn to an extent. Yes, running ICS on a phone without adequate hardware will affect performance. Yes, iOS4 does not run smoothly and perform outstanding on the iPhone 3G.

Now here is where things change, even though Apple releases new iOS updates practically every year, you know that you will get future updates until a major update comes out that you cannot participate in. Still, in this respect, iPhone support seems to last much longer.

Samsung has great phones which always seem to be threatened to become obsolete very soon. I remember buying the Samsung Vibrant in August 2010 (month it came on the US market). It came with Android 2.1. We were all waiting for Android 2.2 which Samsung announced would be released to Vibrant owners in Oct 2010. Delays happened. And we didn’t get it until months later. (At least we got it.) Then Android 2.3 was released world-wide and we waited for word from Samsung and T-Mobile on when we would get 2.3. Release was delayed, naturally; I understand they have to make sure that the package works. Then there were rumors that we wouldn’t get it. Eventually we did. That is great.

In the meantime, my friend–owner of a Nexus One-received all Android updates in a very reasonable amount of time after each Android version was released. His older phone got updated faster than my newer gadget.

I realize there are manufacturers that are good with updates and others that, well, we’ll spare them some pity. Now, Samsung Galaxy S line owners are facing the same situation. I got tired of it and switched to another phone manufacturer’s product. To this day, I am very please with my decision. I don’t have to worry on whether or not I will or will not receive an update. And when the phone has run its course, i’ll be fine because it has been in a long time of service. So I have gotten my moneys worth.

Kimball

So when are we getting Gingerbread??? I did the Froyo update and the additional update fix, but my GPS is still crap. I have barely any apps, but the phone lags and stalls constantly.

I am stuck with this piece of crap for four more months until my 2-year contract is up. Next phone will be HTC or all-google nexus.

Hey Google, how do you allow this??

Angello Smith

If there is a GB update for the Vibrant, can someone please tell where I can find it? ICS is out and I’m still at least 6 months away from upgrading to a GS2, the LEAST T-Mo & Samsung can do is give us an official GB update.

jarjon76

This why you should buy a phone you know you’ll like and be able to enjoy for two years (if you sign a contract). You all should know by now the cell phone industry changes at an almost daily pace, so of course there’s going to be “updates” and your phone will be considered “outdated” the moment you send your first text. Instead of chasing that latest and greatest dragon, just be happy with what you have and quit whining like spoiled brats.

Tbyrne

Thanks jarjon. Finally some common sense.

Kimball

Well, if you recall the Samsung Vibrant didn’t even work properly out of the box. The GPS was completely non-functioning. Even with Froyo, the GPS is still marginal. The lag is intolerable.

When I buy a product, I expect it to meet its own specifications. The problems are software related, so I don’t it unreasonable to expect updates to correct the issues.

Diamond Prince

I have to say im very disappointed with samsung & T-Mobile. I been with them since vibrant then got a galaxy 4g & love them. Samsung & T-Mobile needs to think, we sign contracts for 2y and we “expect” them to be updated for the 2ys. I mean look at iphone when theres a new update all iphones get it not just the new. That should be the same for Android!! Its bull sh*t That Android IOS Doesnt work like that!! I love android but iphone is looking like a better investment.

Wherewbrent

This has nothing to do with tmobile as EVERY original galaxy S device is included, WTF, the galaxy phone was carried by every carrier

TMoFan

When I was phone shopping I was down to the Vibrant and the G2. I decided to go with the G2 and I’m glad I did. It’s a great phone and I can see myself using it after my contract is up. The Vibrant should have at least GB; there’s no excuse for it not to.

Hammer Head

Umm, the update to GB has been available on the T-Mobile site since 15 November.

I’ve had the Samsung Blast – 2 of them. Samsung Behold II – 3 of them. Now I have the Samsung Galaxy S 4G (as in the pic) – 2 of them. No matter how much I’ve tried giving Samsung a chance, they still prove to me that they have HORRIBLE phones. I’ve had a blackberry and 2 android phones… so I think it’s time for me to go ahead and get the iPhone. Enough is enough. Samsung, I’m sorry but…wait…no I’m not sorry. Ya’ll just SUCK!!

Anonymous

:) And I had three Behold II’s, 2 Vibrants, and 4 Sidekick 4g’s. Touchwiz made the experience miserable, made the upgrade path non-existent, and made me decide to no longer buy any samsung. But that is just me, your experience may vary. As for me, Friends don’t let friends buy samsung.

Frigadroid

That’s right tell it the way it is! Samsdung has been lucky to pick up the market share nokia was losing by successfully trying to knockoff apple’s iphone with a cheaper less quality build and virtually no support after the sale.
People who have never been to Korea (or haven’t had family and friends who live there to tell them) are unaware of how the huge family businesses like samsung promote unqualified family members to the highest corporate levels. Instead of investing in talent they invest in bribing the media & politicians all the way up to the south korean president, because they always get pardoned. It is just the way they do business because they were never taught any better. Meanwhile Apple was investing in finding the best talent available with skills to R&D high quality orginal products & ideas.
So like I said much of samsung success in mobiles is based on nokia’s failure. What comes around goes around Apple, IBM, other huge companies past records show that in a few years things can change for better or worse. Samsung’s poor record with quality and support will bite them in the ass eventually if people like us continue to boycott. Didn’t they sell over 1 million tmobile vibrants? That’s a lot of people to make enemies with each time they launch another product.
Samsung’s top spokesman (who last year admitted he owned and preferred the iphone over galaxy s) did recently admit they were caught off guard and lacked the intuition to see forward like apple, and now they have started to head hunt for top talent, but ignorantly they are investing mostly in beefing up their legal staff and have done very little toward R&D.

KingThursday

I think the title here is a little misleading… The *current* Galaxy S lineup (Tab 10.1”, Tab 7” Plus, Galaxy S II . . .) are still slated for ICS, just not these two specific devices which are, at this point, a year behind the curve. If a group like CyanogenMod wants to rework ICS to function on devices like these, that’s awesome, but after experiencing how the MyTouch 3G performed when the 2.1 update was pushed to it, I personally wouldn’t want the manufacturer bogging my device down with more than it’s really capable of handling. It’s unrealistic to expect any piece of technology to keep up for long–it doesn’t mean it’s bad, just that these things are ever-evolving.

Jcj1

Vibrant has the specs for ICS, problem is samsung can’t make it work with their SenseUI

Frigadroid

Duh, Hard Head for a samsdung fanboy you should be ashamed not to even know the difference between a vibrant and the galaxy s 4g.
Next time you want to provide your uniformed input I suggest you read the thread thoroughly and ask for help, sound it out or use your google phone to research. Perhaps you were just confused because most of the world out side of America did get the og Gs GB update.

Hammer Head

Umm, the T959 model Samsung is known both as the Galaxy S 4g as well as the Vibrant 4g, so I’ll accept your apology.

Jimi

Hammer, I think you might have misread what Frigadroid was trying to say. There are two T959 models. The SGH-T959 and the SGH-T959V (you can confirm this on samsung.com). The original T959 is a non-4G “Vibrant”. The T959V is the “Vibrant 4G”.

I know this because I own the original Vibrant and my colleague here at work owns the Vibrant 4G. And there is NO Gingerbread update (official anyway) for the original T959 Vibrant. We are stuck with Froyo (2.2).

Anonymous

I don’t care what they do, my next phone will not be a Samsung.

Tbyrne

Good! More for me. : )

Frigadroid

Samsdung fanboys don’t need any stinking 911.They are perfectly content with missing features & lagging buggy software. Ironic that they hate the iphone so much but love the iclone for its big bright screen and ability to function like an ipod. I will give credit where credit is due I like the sammy screen and processor but after that its just another lemon.
The mailman was right about us tmobile costumers we are settlers, most will take whatever they have to offer so we can save on monthly usage, very few will buy unlocked internationally.

Jcbmj2854

the hell with what peolpe say about Samsung “i tell you this” this is my second gs4g I sold my first one to get the HTC sensation 4g and as for speed gose the gs4g with it’s single core out preformed the htc sensation, the sensation always cut off and on by itself i did two exchanges and it just got worse, so i did an even trade and got the galaxy s 4g back, so say what you want, the only thing i miss about the sensation is the flash on the camera but other than that gs4g kill’s it. ill wait for the galaxy s three cause the gs2 aint really that much better than the gs4g

CWTech9

I hope you know that the galaxy S3 might ditch android for tizen

Dennis2005

im glad i dropped the sgs4g for my HTC Sensation now with ICS running nice

Anthony M. McAfee

Running ICS on my original 3g vibrant absolutely beautifully. It took a little work (very little, about 5 hours) and the Home and back buttons are functionally reversed, but other than that it’s perfect. Samsung is ridiculous. And so is anyone who waits for them to update their devices. The galaxy s line is basically unbrickable, why no one takes advantage of that is completely beyond me.

This is why you’re better off with a Windows Phone. Updates come out across phones and carriers at the same time, and no manufacturer may build a phone that can’t accept upgrades.

Kimball

omg, did you just recommend a Windows phone? lol

Anonymous

I did! And my launch-day Windows Phone from last year is running the latest and greatest version of the OS, with a notification just being sent for the most recent update. No need to “root,” hack, customize, compile or do anything other than just use my phone to get the latest updates.

It’s nice having an OS that is centered around me, rather than around carrier and handset manufacturer politics. You should give it a try! :)

Anonymous

Y don’t you all just sell you SG2s and
Vibrants on ebay? You should get at least $150-300,for them,depending how much care you gave them. That’s what I will be doing in 2yrs with my
SG2. More than likely get close to $350-400 for it. Heck,Behold 2 goes for $80-100 on ebay.
Don’t believe me,check it out yourself.

Info

My phone is less then a year old and I can’t update that suck’s big time. I don’t understand why they are the only one’s without a Iphone it’s the best phone out there.

Tbyrne

Was it a new model you purchased less than a year ago or was it a phone that had already been out for a year? See where I’m going with this? Lastly, if you feel the iPhones the best out there, I don’t understand what you’re doing in here?

AssimilatedAndroid

I am already running ics on all my Vibrant phones anyway thanks to developers on XDA and really could care less about what sorry Samsung is thinking of doing. We already know it is out of greed wanting us to buy new phones the reason they don’t want to provide us updates. Shame on Samsung!

old_school_gangsta

Got the Galaxy S on Jan 2nd… Took it back Jan 6th. I hated- absolutely hated the Galaxy s. Then once I found this article, that was the nail in the coffin. Went back to my Samsung T-329, like a true original gangsta!

“Value Pack Update is Rolling-out for the Galaxy S with ICS features”.
“The Update is currently Available for Europe and Korea through OTA or via Samsung Kies
and will Roll-out to other countries soon. The Value pack will make
your Galaxy S Faster, smoother and uses some Android 4.0 features
adapted inside it, such as the Facelock.”

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